Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39623758›Full record

ArticleClinical psychology & psychotherapy

The Moderating Role of Demoralization on the Association Between Exposure to War and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Israeli Civilians in Reaction to the October 7 War: A Longitudinal Study.

Wafaa Sowan, Svetlana Baziliansky

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Article in Clinical psychology & psychotherapy. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

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4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Wafaa SowanSchool of Social Work, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5480-3939
Svetlana BazilianskySchool of Social Work, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDuring wartime, many people experience distress, uncertainty, helplessness and a lack of control. These negative feelings are at the root of demoralization symptoms.

objectivesThe present prospective study examined the impact of exposure to war and demoralization symptoms on PTSS 6 months later.

methodsParticipants were 338 Israeli citizens with indirect war exposure. Participants answered questionnaires on exposure to war, demoralization and PTSS at two time points (4 weeks and 6 months after the onset of the October 7 war).

resultsThe study revealed that higher exposure to war (Time 1) was associated with higher levels of demoralization symptoms (Time 1) and PTSS (Time 2). Moreover, the moderation analysis indicated that the impact of exposure to war on PTSS was significant only for medium (b = 4.279, SE = 1.33, p < 0.001) and high (b = 8.304, SE = 1.88, p < 0.001) levels of demoralization.

conclusionDemoralization symptoms and PTSS are likely to occur during wartime. However, war exposure alone does not explain PTSS; it is contingent on demoralization levels. Demoralization shortly following the outbreak of war appears to be a predictor of PTSS. This finding suggests that screening for demoralization with a brief simple questionnaire might be a useful clinical tool to identify individuals in the short term who may have increased risk of PTSD in the long term.

Indexed as

Stress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdultFemaleHumansIsraelLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesSurveys and QuestionnairesWar ExposureYoung Adultdemoralizationposttraumatic stresswar

Identifiers

PMID39623758
PMCPMC11612540

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